Reviews by TheSeeker61:

The appearance is opaque, a one finger head. The smell is malty to me, kinda sweet. I taste a slight malt in the front followed by a grapefruit bitter. The mouthfeel is medium; really like the mouthfeel. Overall a really good beer. Not my favorite IPA but one that certainly gets respect and it is one that I'll have on other occassions.

More User Reviews:

4.11/5 rDev 0%look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Appearance – Beautiful, dark orange and hazy in color with an awesome, slightly-tanned head that left large pits on top of the liquid and lace along the sides. I literally drooled on my keyboard staring at this wonderful-looking IPA.

Smell – Big but very smooth hops with a serious malty compliment. This is exceptionally balanced with a resiny hop bias. The floral notes and mild caramel sweetness worked well together, too.

Taste – Anybody interested in a little butter? This IPA is just dripping with it. All the aromatic notes from the nose kicked it up for the taste. Big hops, strong malts, huge butter, and a slightly bitter finish. Wow!

Mouthfeel – So smooth it just slides down the esophagus. How they got all these big flavors to go down so well I’ll never know.

Drinkability – This is like none other I’ve had before, and it is my 39th IPA review on the site. What a treat!

Comments – OldFroth has a way of sniffing out the exceptional, and his senses certainly proved accurate here.

Update – It’s been over six years since OldFroth sent me my first bottle of this beauty and I ran into it at a beverage barn in Ohio so thought I’d give it another whirl. It’s as gorgeous and smooth as I remember it with an amazing texture and a wonderful sense of buttery malt/hop fusion.

Creamy looking head, hazed from the hops with a tawny hue. Soft hop oil aroma, very fragrant. Clean but pungent citric hop character, warming white pepper alcohol with layers of fruitiness and toasted caramel middle to end. Super drinkable even @ 7.2% abv. This is what American IPAs are all about.

Into a standard pint glass, Centennial pours a pretty dark golden-amber with a one finger off-white head. I don't see all that many carbonation bubbles, but what I do see move at a middling pace upward. Lacing on the glass is fair- a little blotchy and curvy.

The smell brings Founders' house smell, fresh, sweet citrus hops, grassy-ness, floral notes, and nice caramel and biscuit malt aromas to my nose. I've always thought that Centennial is one of the more balanced IPAs, while still retaining a solid hop presence.

That malt to hop balance evident in the smell translates almost directly to the taste. Certainly, citrus and floral hops lead the flavor profile, but a great caramel and biscuit taste from the malts rounds out the flavor well. The component ingredients never really fall out of equilirium throughout the sip; even the finish is has a nice earthy, hoppy, dry quality to it, but a malt sweetness remains through the aftertaste.

The mouthfeel has quite a full feel for an IPA... probably on the heavier side of medium. However, a crisp, never-overpowering bite from the citrus and floral hops balances out the fullness of the body for a satisfying feel. Carbonation levels are pretty low, but it fits the body of the beer.

Centennial is one of the more drinkable IPAs I've had. I love how it is balanced without sacrificing a strong hop character, and I find it to be more sessionable than other IPAs. Truly a fine-drinking India Pale Ale.

While new wave brewers dick around with mango/passionfruit/tropical juice bomb bullshit, there's this: piney, citrusy, and a brown sugar malt base. This is a delicious IPA that puts a lot of the nouveau IPA stuff to shame. It shared that interesting brown sugar note with some other wonderful brews, notably stuff like Bear Republic's Hop Rod Rye or Red Rocket. Anyway, super satisfying drink that I hope never makes way for the some tropical fruit salad IPA that's so du jour these days.

Excellent orange colored pour with 1/2" of white head and nice lace down the side of the glass. Aroma dropped those citrus, tangerine and grapefruit notes.

Taste is solid, wave after wave of the Centennial hop. Ages nicely compared to proprietary hops, this will stand strong still 100 days after bottling. Good format, good price. Pretty standard in its approach, does everything well above average. Not quite world class, but definitely one of the better regional ipas made.

As far as IPA's go, this one is a bit more balanced than most, having many moments throughout the session where it's indistinguishable whether the bold citrus hops gain precidence or the medium caramel malt govern.

The single 'Centennnial' hopped beer has a tremendous hop fragrance, flavor, and bitterness. A huge burst of fresh oranges, perfume, and candy-crusted confectionate malt aroma swirl into a complex and whimsical aura above the glass.

The look almost doesn't matter because of the intesity of aroma and flavor. But the beer has a simple and staple look with a medium golden-sunkist color, good head formation, fair retention, and a mild dry-hop haze. It looks like a lot of other IPA's.

Although the look is quite average, the outstanding aroma transfers to an outstanding taste. Juicy ripe orange-hop flavor set the tone as secondary notes of grapefruit, pineapple, appricot, and mangos dance on the periphery. Quite tropical fruit dominant with the hops and sublte esters. Confectionate sweetness gives a light caramel, powdered sugar, sweetheart candies that seem to evaporate in the mouth. The balance is both bold and delicate. No frills, just greatness.

The body is exquisitly drinkable with a lightly efforvescent tone that is effortless to drink. Initially creamy and rounded, but whisps away with a sweetly powdery, dry texture. Bittered late for great balance, and perhaps a little extra kick with an orange zest, grapefruit acidity.

Generally the single-hop beers are a great exercise in understanding hop flavor but usually suffer with a lack of depth and complexity. This beer does no such thing. An abundance of fruit juices, acidity, and variety offers a new flavor in every sip. IPA's just don't get better.

I'm not a big fan of IPAs but picked this up curious to see founders take on the style. What a pleasant surprise, this is the best IPA I've had yet. Malty goodness with a strong hop presence that isn't at all overwhelming like many of the style. Phenomenal.

Usually I don't take the reviews to serious but I feel Founders beers deserve real review. Pours a nice amber caramel color with a light head. Smells of roasted caramel, maybe a little burnt maple syrup and a mild hop undertone. Upfront the taste is a rich roasted oak, dark roasted malt and a amber mild ale. Then the hops hit and take you back to what the beer is an IPA. I'm working my way into IPAs and I've got to say this is easily my favorite so far. It's not the basic plain IPA I've found most are. I would highly recommend this for someone wanting to relax around and enjoy a complexed beer. It looses some of it's flare as it gets hot tho.

Pour is a deep copper with a two finger fluffy white head. Aroma is piney, citrus hops with some malt sweetness. Taste follows with pine, citrus, resinous flavors balanced by a touch of malt sweetness and biscuity malt. Mouthfeel is medium and very drinkable. Overall an earthy ipa with balance.

T: First impression is that this is not overly hoppy or malty, very balanced. Citrus, floral, some pine and resin, hit of hop bitterness, finish is dry with a hint of grapefruit peel in the aftertaste.

M: Medium mouthfeel with a dry finish.

O: A very drinkable IPA, balanced, the ABV is well-hidden in the beer. A solid IPA that I would reach for again. I would like it a little fresher but at 5 weeks its holding up pretty well.

Hazy marmalade orange. Thin frothy head.
Rich aroma of orange and earthy resinous pine.
A really good balance of citrus hops with sweet malt and a nice bitter bite at the finish.
Soft feel. Medium body. Alcohol is very well hidden.
Very enjoyable.

Not your panty-waste micro/macro brewery IPA catering to those who wish to be "stylish" by drinking an IPA, but a full-bodied India Pale Ale with a hoppy kick and the ABV to match. Easy on the nose and biting on the tongue with cloudy disposition. All in all a very good brew.

Great color out of the growler. I found this at a rsndom liquor store on tap. I was pretty excited to find this on tap. Unfortunately the lady pouring it didn't seem to know how to get it in the growler. I got it home and it was pretty flat. The smell was good and it did taste great. I just wish it wasn't flat

Sweet, orange hued malty entry. Malts are robust without being syrupy. Bright, citric hops. Grapefruit rind and lemon are what I get. Big, hoppy bitterness without the big cohume bite you'd expect from such a hop forward beer. The hop bitterness smacks you across the palate than falls off fast. There are modest resinous notes that linger, coupled with the cereal grain notes in the finish. The hops are both lightly spiced and lightly floral. A great complement of orange hue malts combined with the citrus from the Centennials that make up this beer. A wonderful balance is struck in this offering. Light bodied. Dry finish. Carbonation and hops seem to embellish one another, but carbonation is appropriate. Super drinkable, gone before you realize it. A well, well crafted IPA. A must grab IF fresh. Check the bottled on date before purchasing. Cheers!

I’m trying a variety of different beers today and this 7.2% ABV IPA happens to be among the mix. I am glad to be reviewing this one, because I tried it years ago before I was into reviewing and now I have the opportunity to attempt to describe it in all its glory. Founder’s is a great brewery and you should try this one and also their All Day IPA.

Look-Pours a pretty clear amber color with copper hues in the light. The head is almost nonexistent due to the sugar content, but leaves a slight lacing on the glass.

Smell-It has a nice malty aroma with plenty of earthy resinous hops that appear in the nose. It has been awhile since I got these aromas on the nose instead of the tongue. The resin comes through nicely and maybe a caramel and amber malt tinge to it also.

Taste-The flavor has more of a malt profile than the nose picks up on. The hops sneak up on you after a while and are mostly piney and earthy, but somehow it is unique and not like every other brew. I think they manage a hop variety that is high in resins and pine which somehow play well with the malts to make for a drinkable variety that is sufficiently distinct from every other IPA.

Mouthfeel-I get a strong sticky and syrupy feel that forms a nice coating on the tongue.

Overall-If you don’t pay attention then it might seem run of the mill, but for those advanced drinkers, you will appreciate the nuances of this one.

Moving up the latter in the Founders world, this 12 ounce bottle makes its way into my residence. On to the beer:

A clean copper body shines below a half-inch of somewhat creamy head which dissipates into a patchy lace. I smell something hoppy, and those Centennial hops are making me smile. I get healthy hits of lemon, citrus, grapefruit and a smack of honey. It somehow gets better, especially now in the era of grapefruit IPA's and Mosaic hopped ales. This ale holds a great hoppiness without going too far. The tastes of lemon, tangerine, grapefruit, leading to a somewhat sweet and citric finish finds a way to keep luring me in. It doesn't features a bitter aftertaste, and is really smooth going down.

Centennial IPA delivers an outstanding, honest IPA flavor. Now that I can buy it in California, I will be drinking some more in the future!

Served in a shaker pint glass. Amber color, creamy white head. I don't know how this one isn't classified as a DIPA, personally, it has many of the characteristics: strong and sweet malty backbone; plentiful honeyed floral and herbal hop notes; and a well-hidden ABV that sneaks up on you. I cannot stress what a sleeper this one is. It looks like just another IPA sitting on the shelf, with its muted label and almost generic name. The contents, however, are anything but generic.

Had this for a second time and found it to be a lot better the second time around. This pours out as a nice yellowish gold color with a decent looking white head on it. The smell is heavy with pine and some citrus. The taste is wonderful, it's very strong with hops and just relentless on the tastebuds. The mouthfeel is surprisingly light but still has a great body to it. Very good beer!